Accounting standards engender confidence in the financial reporting of the private, public and not-for-profit sectors. Audit & assurance standards ensure trust in an organisation's financial reports.

Process for issuing standards

Section 22 of the Financial Reporting Act 2013 requires us to ensure all who would be affected by the issue of a standard or an amendment are consulted and have an opportunity to provide feedback, suggestions and insights.

The XRB Board has developed a set of due process guidelines which the NZASB and the NZAuASB must follow before issuing a standard, amendment to a standard, or other pronouncement.

You can view diagrams of the different standard setting processes following the links above.

These diagrams are intended only as a straightforward guide to the full process.

For a detailed description of how our standards are set, read the following documents alongside these diagrams. They set out the full processes for setting both accounting standards and auditing & assurance standards:

Final sign-off

Before a new standard (or amendment, authoritative notice or other pronouncement for issue) can be approved, the standard-setting Board must be assured that:

reasonable steps have been taken to consult with persons or organisations likely to be affected by the proposed standard/amendment/pronouncement

the proposed standard/amendment/pronouncement is likely to achieve its objectives

the advantages of the proposed standard/amendment/pronouncement are sufficient to justify its issue.

The standard-setting Board prepares a certificate signing memo which outlines the due process followed, the major issues raised by the constituency during that process, and the conclusions reached by the standard-setting Board in considering them.

The XRB Board Chair signs the certificate and the standard-setting Board can then issue the standard/amendment/ pronouncement.

Public notification

When we issue a standard, amendment, or pronouncement we notify this publicly on our website and via our NZASB Update or NZAuASB Update as appropriate.